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The Kitsap Business Forum will feature Dr. Dan Diamond as he presents the seminar: “DisasterImprov: Make an Impact Under Pressure” for the March 11 forum.

Dr. Diamond will draw on his experience from the tranches of the world’s most recent disasters to takes you behind the scenes to show local leaders how to solve problems under tremendous pressure.

In recent months, the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance and Excell Puget Sound have partnered with the Silverdale Chamber of Commerce and PMR Business Coaching to present meaningful business intelligence and opportunities to connect with Kitsap’s best leaders.

The forum will be held at the Morgan Stanley office in Silverdale at 2011 Myhre Road, Suite 301. Program starts at 7:30 a.m. and finish at 9:00 a.m.Anyone interested in attending should RSVP to 360-692-6800, or go online to http://KitsapBusinessForum.comKEDA and Excell Puget Sound join the Kitsap Business Forum

Care home receives award

Martha & Mary AT HOME today has been recognized with Home Care Pulse’s “Best of Home Care” distinction for the fourth year in a row.

Awarded to only the top 25 percent of home care providers based on client satisfaction scores from Home Care Pulse, Martha & Mary AT HOME continues to rank among a select few of the best home care providers in the country.

“We know that sometimes it is difficult to take care for a loved one, especially when you have never searched for a home care provider before," said Aaron Marcum, founder of Home Care Pulse. "We work to make this process easier by helping families make an informed decision, based on a tangible measurement of quality: client feedback. Our goal is to help families choose a trusted provider to care for their loved one.”

Home Care Pulse, a company which measures client and employee satisfaction, created the award to identify those agencies in the private duty home care space that demonstrated a passion for client and employee satisfaction.

Home Care Pulse believes that honoring such companies can both educate and help families to make better care decisions for their aging loved ones.The selection process for the “Best of Home Care” includes the evaluation of client satisfaction in the areas of work ethic, timeliness, knowledge of caregivers, compassion, appearance, communication, response to problems, overall quality of care, and caregiver performance, and more.For more about Home Care Pulse, please visit www.bestofhomecare.com.

Port receives finance award

The Port of Bremerton has received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting awarded by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) for its comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR).

The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.An Award of Financial Reporting Achievement was awarded to The Port of Bremerton and Becky Swanson, chief financial officer at the Port of Bremerton.

The CAFR has been judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program including demonstrating a constructive "spirit of full disclosure" to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the CAFR. “This accomplishment is certainly something we should be proud of” stated Jim Rothlin, Port CEO. “This benefits the entire Port community, as it contributes to the Port’s efforts of transparency to the public regarding its planning and investment strategies. I would like to thank the entire staff for their involvement in the process. I would like to thank the Port’s CFO, Becky Swanson for her leadership of the process which takes hours and hours to make this a success.”

Port Commissioner Roger Zabinski stated “The Port is extremely pleased that the GFOA would recognize the Port with this Achievement in Excellence. The Port has submitted the CAFR the past three years and has received this award each of those years. Additionally, including the most recent State audit for FY2012, the Port has received 21 consecutive audits with no findings.

"The Commissioners would like to express our gratitude for the excellent work and dedication of CFO Becky Swanson and her staff in putting together the comprehensive annual financial report and for their excellent stewardship of the public’s records at the Port of Bremerton.”

A copy of the report can be found on the Port’s website at www.portofbremerton.org.The GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving approximately 17,500 government finance professionals with offices in Chicago, IL, and Washington, D.C.

Business Insight and Tools from Business Experts

The Silverdale Chamber of Commerce and PMR Business Coaching & Consulting recently announced the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance (KEDA) and Excell Puget Sound will be partnering with them to expand the Kitsap Business Forum.

“We have had great success in bringing some incredible business programs to the Kitsap peninsula in 2013” said Kathleen Knuckey, executive director for the Silverdale Chamber and co-founder of the forum.

“Now that John (Powers), Kathy (Cocus), and Shannon (Bruce) are coming on board, we will be adding more dynamic speakers, panels and workshops for large and small businesses.”

In addition to the forum taking on new partners, the area chambers have agreed to support the effort. Those that have added their support are: Poulsbo, Port Orchard, Bremerton, Bainbridge Island and Kingston.

“We recently met with many key influencers in local business and have gained new direction and ideas for the forum going forward," said Dave Mitchell, principal with PMR and co-founder of the forum. "We will be moving beyond basic business intelligence and creating in-depth business education that will develop business leaders to improve communication, create collaborative teams and shift culture within their realm of influence. This will also create a uniting point for large and small companies throughout Kitsap.”

More information on the forums and scheduled subjects can be seen at www.KitsapBusinessForum.com or by calling the Silverdale Chamber at 360-692-6800.

Kitsap Credit Union selects Members Mortgage to re-tool its home loan program

Mortgage lending is shifting from a refinance market to purchases, and that means many financial institutions are in turn shifting strategies to meet a different demand. Kitsap Credit Union ($971 million; 93,234 members; Bremerton) took a proactive approach and has chosen CU Members Mortgage for its lending and servicing expertise, as well as its readiness to comply with new Dodd-Frank regulations that took place in January of 2014.

As a result, Kitsap remains highly-competitive in the mortgage lending market that has become increasingly challenging to navigate. According to Kitsap’s Senior Vice-President and Chief Lending Officer Tony Bulleri, the credit union’s infrastructure was previously set up to handle primarily refinances that have dominated mortgage activity for the last several years.

Now that the market is shifting toward purchases, the credit union felt the needto do some restructuring and retooling of outdated operational processes. They also saw the potential for the new Consumer Finance Protection Bureau rules to increase costs, and needed an industry expert to mitigate those increases to keep the credit union’s mortgage program as affordable as possible for members.

“There were a number of options available to Kitsap to update our operations, but we decided to outsource our mortgage lending services with CU Members Mortgage,” Bulleri said. “They will greatly enhance the efficiency of our loan processes, and their expertise and national presence will benefit our credit union and members by offering a full range of compliant loan programs while keeping operating cost in check.”

Along with co-branding efforts to ensure members work with Kitsap, plus retained servicing of loans to ensure members are not exposed to competing financial institutions, CU Members Mortgage will help Kitsap hire local (Kitsap-based) CU Members Mortgage loan officers to work at the credit union.

“One of our biggest goals is to enhance our mortgage lending reputation,” Bulleri said. “We want to provide the best mortgage products and services possible to our members, and we are very confident we can achieve this goal with CU Members Mortgage.”

“We are privileged to work with Kitsap Credit Union as the market transitions from refinances to one more focused on purchase transactions,” said Linda Clampitt, Senior Vice-President of CU Members Mortgage. “Mortgage Lending is ever-evolving. To stay on top of it you have to move fast yet meticulously, to remain competitive. Kitsap took a smart move, proactive approach. We look forward to helping them prepare and provide the best loans possible for the beginning of home buying season this spring and beyond.”

About CU Members Mortgage:Founded in 1982 as a division of Colonial Savings, Dallas-based CU Members Mortgage provides comprehensive mortgage services to more than 1,000 credit unions, CUSOs, and leagues nationwide. The company originates more than $3 billion in FHA, VA, and conventional loans each year and services more than 150,000 loans annually.

With a portfolio of $23 billion, it is one of the largest servicers of mortgage loans in the United States. Advanced technology, including a dedicated website with an online mortgage application that delivers confirmation in minutes, makes CU Members Mortgage is one of the industry’s leading resources for mortgage services.

The company is privately held and originates loans in all 50 states. For more information, visit: www.cumembers.com.

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